With the month of April coming to a close, the Net Metering and Solar Task Force is preparing a set of final recommendations for the legislature. Among them, is a possible recommendation to implement a minimum bill for all electricity ratepayers. A minimum bill sets the floor for electricity bills. Their appeal, from the utility perspective, is that they effectively guarantee that every electricity account will have to pay some amount of money to the utility every month regardless of how much electricity is used, solar power is generated, etc.

You say solar is working in Massachusetts. I hear conflicting reports.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Massachusetts has had an incredible string of solar successes. We are a national leader in solar power. The Commonwealth ranks 2nd nationwide for the number of solar jobs created and 4th in terms of total installed capacity. The solar power systems installed in Massachusetts generate enough electricity to power 120,000 homes.

With this winter's snow all but melted and the temperatures climbing, solar projects across the Commonwealth remain on hold thanks to net metering cap limits. As of 4/22, more than 60 MW of solar was on the waiting list in National Grid territory (see table below). The current backlog of solar projects is greater than the total amount solar installed in Massachusetts in 2011. Stalled projects include low income, community shared and municipal solar projects.